1. “Providing communication
to Aboriginalpeople in
Canadato improve
lifestyle and overall
education.”
Connectivity for
Remote
Communities
By: Leonid Epshteyn,
Vaishnavi Rama, Michael
Stoller, and Inderpreet Kaur
Date: March 12th, 2014
2. Introduction/Abstract
Research on literacy and health identifies priorities for exploration on aboriginal people
in Canada. The low literacy has immediate and backhanded effects on health. They have more
trouble obtaining occupations in the Aboriginal community. Families are at risk due to their
difficulty reading medical prescriptions as well as information pertaining to health and safety.
People with lower levels of literacy tend to live and work in less healthier surroundings.
Obtaining employment and securing wages is problematic for them due to a lack of education,
availability for jobs, and access to media. Determinants of literacy include: education, early
childhood development, aging, living and work conditions, personal capacity/genetics, gender,
and culture. Action must be taken in order to develop better literacy and health through a
combination of communication, education, and healthy community development policy.
A portion of the patterns we are confronting that make this sort of work so timely are that
our ethnic and linguistic make-up is evolving quickly; the use of computers and new
technologies is proliferating; there are greater literacy requirements for functioning in our
knowledge economy; there are unprecedented stresses on our healthcare and education systems.
Numerous Aboriginal parents are reluctant and hesitant to take part in the educating part
of their children. However, strong proof suggests that the success of students depends on the
point of parental involvement.
Aboriginal Communities
Canada has the highest rate of Aboriginal people around the globe. About 4% of
Canada’s population belongs to aboriginal communities.
Surveys conducted on health care in Aboriginal communities found that Aboriginal
people are strongly bound to their beliefs that they do not take pain killers even when they are in
severe pain. People do not communicate properly with physicians when they do not feel safe and
they often leave the treatment in between. Among Aboriginal people, there are high rates of
mental illness, foetal alcohol syndrome, domestic violence, diabetes, obesity, and hypertension
and their rate of suicide is more than national average. Infection-based diseases are widely
spread in these areas. Many aboriginal people face racism because of their culture and life style.
One other reason that they do not take health care treatment is that they are not respected as
patients who need assistance or not as human beings. They prefer to go to doctors with whom
they feel safe and have good interaction with. From considering the education of Aboriginal
people it is found that many people that do not have basic necessities like education and health
facilities. Almost half of the adults (ages vary from 25-64) have only post-secondary diploma.
One reason for this problem is that Aboriginal people are greatly isolated from urban areas. Also,
Aboriginal people are three times unemployed than other Canadians and as a result their lesser
income and their children are raised below poverty line.
For Aboriginal learners, having access to the world-wide web will help them reach their
need of health care and education. By bridging the digital divide, it will allow Aboriginal
communities to fully participate in e-services delivery in the following fields:
3. 1. Will learn how to communicate with others
2. Will help them adapt to a newer culture out
3. A home-based program to educate two or more people for the cost of one
4. Creating environment that welcomes Aboriginal children
However, there are linguistic differences, culture barriers, and lack of role models.
Aboriginal people in Canada have suffered from the ongoing effects of cultural denigration,
racism, and colonialism.
Major Problems faced by Aboriginal people in Canada
1. Child welfare programs slashed with no guarantee of return
2. High number of unresolved cases of missing Aboriginal women
3. Unequal access to Canada’s health system
4. Native lands might soon be subsumed by mining companies
5. Lack of knowledge surrounding the history of residential schools
In 1938, Abraham Maslow conducted research among the Northern Blackfoot in Alberta
near Geichen and Cluny. As a budding psychologist, he was interested in certain cross-cultural
issues: wealth, dominance and emotional security. He discovered that the Blackfoot idea of
wealth was based not upon accumulation but upon generosity. He also discovered that some of
his assumptions—that the drive to obtain power and to dominate were universal—was
misguided. In his exploration of emotional security, he found, much to his amazement, that the
Blackfoot were so emotionally secure “that about eighty to ninety percent of the population must
be rated about as high in ego security as the most secure individuals in our [own] society, who
compromise perhaps five to ten percent at most.”1 In trying to discover why this might be so,
Maslow investigated child-rearing practices. He concluded that an emphasis upon personal
responsibility was the explanation: parents encouraged their children to do things for themselves
and not to expect parents to cater to their every need. As well, the development of close and
warm social relationships, particularly as part of large and extended families, led to the creation
of very emotionally secure individuals. Maslow’s ideas about human beings and their
development were changed as a result of his encounter. He went on to develop the hierarchy of
needs, based somewhat upon what he learned from Blackfoot elders.
Potential obstacles to implementing this program
One of the main obstacles that will be faced by this project is the distrust by the
Aboriginal people due to the forced education program instituted by the Canadian government
from 1840s and that did not conclude until 1996. This forced assimilation process created a
strong distrust in the hearts of the Aboriginal community. By forcing Aboriginal children to
attend residential schools ran by the Christian Church, it appeared to the Aboriginal community
as if the government was trying to remove the Indian from the children and make them behave,
speak white, and white. Thus, undermining the values of the Aboriginal community. This makes
the Aboriginal community apprehensive about accepting any new proposals that offer education
for the young Aboriginal children.
4. Advantages of providing internet to these communities
For Aboriginal learners, having access to the world-wide web will help them reach their
full academic potential and acquire the knowledge and skills required to compete in today's
labour market.
By bridging the digital divide, it will allow Aboriginal communities to fully participate in
e-services delivery in the following fields:
E-Health
E-Learning
E-water remote monitoring systems
E-Commerce
E-Banking, etc.
Our Proposal
Many Aborigines’ tribes are located in some of the most inhospitable locations in
Canada, lacking even some of the simplest resources like power and access to phone, even
access to qualified doctors, pharmacists, and teachers.
What we propose is a total solution; a full package that covers all aspects of the problem.
Locations that are within 50KM of an ISP a microwave link can be utilized to provide a
relatively low cost solution for high-speed internet link. If the community is at a remote location,
a satellite based Internet system will be employed. However, the cost is higher but it is available
at any remote location. Connected to the Internet is a server suite that will provide load
balancing, website cashing, and managing the wireless hotspot. The wireless hotspot from
Inscape Data, an AirEther SB54 system will provide up to a 50 KM wireless hotspot. Repeater
stations may be installed for residents located further then 50 km. For the trial run, 25 rugged Net
books will be dispersed through out the community. As this program becomes more accepted
and popular; the entire system can be scaled, to provide a Net book to each household that would
like it. The satellite internet service can provide any were from 2 Mega Bite per second (MB/s)
download link and 1MB/s Upload link, up to 15 MB/s Down link and a 5 MB/s Up link
connection per antenna. Multiple antennas may be connected to provide an even faster link if
needed. The server suite may be scaled to accommodate an ever-increasing traffic and number of
users as needed. The ruggedized Net book will provide a long battery life, web cam, convenient
size and a screen that may be viewed in direct sunlight. Also, the Net book is water resistant and
shock proof. As the system becomes more popular, the variables may be adjusted to
accommodate the required functionality.
